WASHINGTON (CNN) – The state of the economy is the number-one issue on the minds of Americans as the presidential election approaches, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Wednesday morning.

Eighty-two percent of Americans said the economy will be extremely or very important to their vote for president. Economic conditions edged out Iraq by two points, with 80 percent of those surveyed saying that the war is 'extremely or very important' to their vote.

Also, among the top five issues on the public's mind when contemplating their next vote for president are health care (76 percent), terrorism (76 percent), and Iran (73 percent).

The state of the overall economy weighed more heavily on the minds of voters than specific economic issues such as gas prices (67 percent), poverty (65 percent), taxes (63 percent) and immigration (61 percent).

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation telephone poll of 1,024 American adults was conducted over the weekend and had a sampling error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.

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What strong economy Ryan is talking about? Can he not see what's going on? People losing their houses, lost jobs? People are suffering. We used our money to help other countries instead of our own. Yes, we need a President that will rebuild our country. We need someone who have the experience and determination to change our country for the better. I've seen these wanna be President that all they have done so far is to put down someone to be able to be recognized. Well, we smart voters guys. So far, Hillary Clinton has done a very good job on just concentrating on her agendas and who don't care about these guys. Salute you Hillary! You are doing great. Keep it up. They tried to pull you down........but they couldn't because we are watching..........We voters are watching.

Ryan from Indy said: "I dont understand how the american public can be so gullible and naive they will believe anything the press tells them. The economy right now is as strong as it was during the good Clinton years and yet all these undeducated people are claiming the sky is falling. "

Well...us dummies might just be looking around at: the cost of rent, utilities, gas, food, credit, childcare, chinese goods, insurance, clothing and wondering how they are going to pay for these necessities in 1,2,3,5 years when their salaries seem to be stagnant–or in decline. Obviously, your salary is not–good for you. But you really need to read a little more before you call that many American citizens ignorant. ou truly are as out of touch with the average American as our President and is court of jesters.

I suppose that everyone should just believe everything that the Republicans throw at us??? What a joke! You should take your own advice and really take in information from all sources before making any judgements.

It is more likely that CNN has the economy on the brain. This is the second article on the Ticker touting the same 1,024 people poll results.

It must be a slow news day.

Regardless, the posts here will be very predictable. It is all Bush's and the evil oil companies' fault. It isn't the fault of the consumers who insist on purchasing gas hog SUV's or wouldn't even think about walking to the store or riding a bicycle to a friend's house instead of driving.

I'm sure this isn't the right place to put this, but I couldn't find any blogs relating to the polls of the canidates. Your polls are 2 MONTHS old. how are you supposed to give accurate information to the public with information that old?

Finally we are awakening. Gas at over $3 and going higher, impossible to pay healthcare rates, high inflation (my inflation DOES include energy and food costs – prices of WalMart Chinese DVD players are irrelevant to me).
It seems like most of us are not buying that gay terrorists performing abortions while getting married is the number one threat.

YEAH, I'm worried about the economy! The Republicans have screwed everything up by borrowing egregious amounts of money, driving up the national debt to astronomical new heights and are lying to us daily about how well they're doing. It's all so similar to Douglas Adams' "Hitchikers Guide".... "Don't Worry!"... that is until the excrement hits the fan at an equally egregious rate of speed.

Economy is really bad- it is the fact- $97.00 gas per barrel-jobs are weak-house prices are declining-foreclosures are at their highest peak-bankruptcy filing numbers are high. To Ryan from Indiana: You must be living in a fantasy world, like your party. You have no knowledge of reality-you just made an emotional statement without any facts ot data-you must be 18 years old or under-I just cannot believe that you are blaming media and democrats. I feel sorroy for you, and pray for you so you can see...

Ryan from Indy:
I totally agree with you man. The economy is strong: unemployment rate is low, interest rates are low, inflation is around 2 – 3% each year (not bad at all). All these idiots around us think there is a recession going on. Of course, you and I know that they will believe whatever the media tells them.
Also, sorry to see the Colts lose. I can't stand New England...bunch of cheaters.

The economy is NOT at all as good as it was during the Clinton years. Growth was stronger, the economy was more diversified, employment and wages were better, and credit was more available. The Bush economy is incredibly top-heavy. Corporate CEOs, hedge-fund executives, and those with inherited wealth are all doing incredibily well while middle class and working class Americans are struggling with declining real wages, loss of benefits, and lack of full-time employment. The pie may be growing, but the masses are getting a smaller slice while the wealthy elite are getting far more than their fair share. Average voters are dead-on right to be upset with this economy.

Economy appears strong because the dollar has been freefalling on the international money exchanges. A canadian dollar is now worth 1.10 U.S. dollars.

And one of the reasons for this is the Iraq War. Because of it we need to print money and devalue our currency. Because of it we need to borrow money from the Chinese.

Anyone who thinks that the economy is doing strong, most likely is not that smart and relies on the DOW levels for their "insight". Thats nice and all but you have to remember all the BILLIONS that the Fed has pumped into the economy, and all the cut rates.

Strong for who? Plenty of politically plugged businessmen who have very little business skill are doing ok, but working Americans are in foreclosure in record numbers.

Care to explain how nonexistent consumer product safety, skyrocketing health care costs, high fuel prices, protection from fraud, and illegals supressing wages make for a good economy for working men and women?

You are unbelievably naïve! The economy is nowhere near as strong as it was during the Clinton years! Here are some facts about the current economy…

Subprime mortgages are causing Investment banks to mark down Billions in write downs...and no one really knows how bad the losses really are as these investments are "Marked to Model" rather than "Marked to Market" because THERE IS NO MARKET FOR THEM! These investments in securities backed by subprime mortgages are possibly (likely) worthless...meaning that the Investment Bank’s losses still haven’t been realized.

There is a serious crisis in the credit markets. The market for Commercial Paper has dwindled by $270 Billion since the beginning of August. ("Commercial Paper" is short-term loans that many companies use to fund their day-to-day operations). A lot of this money was parked in the stock market which is why we saw the market rally to an all time high recently…this can’t continue into the New Year and I fear the market is heading for a major downturn.

The housing market is tumbling and there is no end in sight. With fewer people qualifying for mortgages due to stricter lending guidelines and any Non-Conforming loans becoming so expensive they're practically unattainable, housing prices will continue to come under enormous pressure. This will be the first year since the Great Depression that the average home price in America decreases.

Mortgage defaults are on the rise and there are Trillions of dollars worth of adjustable rate mortgages that are about going to reset in the next year. Many of these homes will go into foreclosure when the borrowers realize they cannot make their payments and they no longer qualify for a new loan with new stricter lending guidelines that have emerged as a result of the subprime fallout. This will destroy consumer confidence and make for a rough holiday season and then some.

The dollar is at an all time low against other currencies…and it’s not showing any signs of rebounding. China announced this morning that the feel the dollar is no longer the “world’s currency” and they announced that they are going to be diversifying their $1.7 Trillion into other currencies, most likely the Euro. Gold is trading at over $850/Ounce and Oil is trading at $97.50/Barrel.

The Federal Reserve has been forced to decrease the Fed Funds Rate as well as the Discount Rate and pumped more Billions of Dollars into the economy in an attempt to provide liquidity. The last time they pumped this much money into the economy was after the September 11th attacks. No crisis you say????

Just my $0.02, but I've been trading fixed income derivatives for 10+ years. From where do derive your expertise? I'm curious...

I'd definitely like to see Americans stop caring so much about money and focusing on more redeeming issues like the environment. Healthcare/economy issues are going to be the platform for money grubbing and corrupt politicians. Find a politician that puts the environment before all of that, and it will be a candidate with the state of mind necessary to really change things like healthcare around.

The economy is not the same as peoples' personal money management. People who are bad at managing their money shouldn't think the federal government has anything to do with it.

President Bush's tax cuts have grown the fed . revenue to a historic high. In other words, Washington is taking in more money than ever. For the avg. person, the President's tax cuts mean less taken from your withholding. That means consumer spending is very high. With unemployment and inflation low, and the stock market setting records this economy is doing very well, thanks to conservative principles.

The price of gas is the main thing people complain about, but the President doesn't set that price. If you fill up a ten gal. tank at $30.00 per week, when it used to be $25.00 per week, that shouldn't be crippling peoples' wallet, when most of us think nothing of three or four Starbucks per week or fast food at $6.00 each. That's about $25 to $30 most people spend on drive-thru stuff.

The box office is also regularly bringing in $10- 50 million per week. It's the middle and lower middle class who pack the theaters, so how come they can find money for movies?! The stores are also packed almost every day; why do people fill up their carts with junk food, childrens' toys, soft drinks, snack and other discretionary items when the "economy is bad". That's because it's not bad. We're just spoiled, materialistic Americans who think we're "entitled" to having it all without tightening our belts.

Randy, all – Ms. Clinton is as much a free traitor and globalization train wreck as any Bushie. She and Bill *own* part of a company that provides outsourcing services and H1-B guest workers for Amercian companies. If you think this wont be an issue in the election, you're just delussional. The Democratic leadership are a disaster on free trade. The public, in every recent poll, is completely opposed to free trade, guest workers of all sorts, illegal immigrants, and politcian's too cozy relationships with corporations. Hillary Clinton is the candidate of corporate insiders; more so than even any Republican. This will cost her votes. It has already cost her this Democrats vote no matter what.

I don't understand it either, Ryan , but you, the educated Republican American, proved it. If you do YOUR research, as you preach, you will see: 1) The dollar drops like a stone in the water 2) The gas prices are hitting the roof 3) Millions of homeowners are losing their homes 4) The stock market "shakes" like hell from day to day 5) BILLIONS are wasted (and added to your debt) every week in Iraq 6) ...I can add many more of the good things of today's economy but I don't want to disturb your illusionary!happines. By the way, unless you have Alzheimer's, none of these things were happening during Clinton's years...

This guy who wrote a comment above about comparing the Clinton years with this one he looks to me a Neo-con a naive person if he doesnt look how things are going around rigth now just take look the Dow Jones and the oil,and the latest report of GM loosing 39B this year.

People were given a choice when they signed for high credit card debt or high mortgages. They made a bad choice. The government can't help you think sensibly or restrict companies from making offers that favor them over the consumers. Caveat emptor.

Americans say that important issues are the economy, Iraq, health care, terrorism, and Iran...

Yet no one is listening to the guy who actually has ideas about the value of the US dollar, wants to end the war in Iraq, is a medical doctor, understands the role of US foreign policy in motivating terrorism, and thinks that war with Iran is as bad (or worse) an idea than attacking Iraq was.

Listen to what you're saying. Then go visit http://www.ronpaul2008.com